


Falling Hard

by ticktockclockwork



Series: Nurseyweek [1]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Chris "I can fix that" Chow, Derek "walking disaster" Nurse, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Nurseyweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-09
Updated: 2017-02-09
Packaged: 2018-09-23 01:16:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9633875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ticktockclockwork/pseuds/ticktockclockwork
Summary: “Nursey?”The Haus was quiet. Bitty was in Providence that weekend, Holster and Ransom had holed up in the library to study for midterms, and Lardo was setting up her pieces for a gallery showing across campus. It was mid afternoon, the weather was rapidly heading towards chilly, and Chowder knew something was wrong.---ForNurseyweekday 1: Mistake or Silence.





	

“Nursey?”

The Haus was quiet. Bitty was in Providence that weekend, Holster and Ransom had holed up in the library to study for midterms, and Lardo was setting up her pieces for a gallery showing across campus. It was mid afternoon, the weather was rapidly heading towards chilly, and Chowder knew something was wrong.

Nursey had texted him earlier asking if he could crash for a nap in his room and, duh, of course that was fine. He and Nursey had been tentatively dating for a few weeks now though they hadn't really talked about it with anyone but Caitlin yet. It was still too new for them to share it and given that everyone immediately just assumed Nursey was dating Dex, neither of them really felt like going through the tedious process of dispelling that assumption.

Not yet. Not until they were sure of things.

So yeah, boyfriends could share beds, especially for naps, but Chowder knew for a fact that Nursey snored like a beast and, once again, the Haus was quiet. Clearly, there were no naps happening. A frown creased Chowder's brow and he tongued over his braces by habit, worrying as he headed upstairs. His door was closed, not how he'd left it that morning, so with an unnecessary glance over his shoulder he knocked on the door and poked his head in. “Derek?” 

The room was mostly undisturbed except that his pile of shark stuffed animals was on the bed instead of on the floor. The entire team had decided to each get him a giant shark stuffed animal from Ikea for his birthday last year and he hadn't had the heart to tell that that he was a fan of the Sharks not, ya know, sharks. 

He appreciated the sentiment and admittedly ten giant stuffed sharks made a pretty good bed when someone was desperate. The problem was that this pile was usually in the corner of his room. Now it was mountained on his bed with a Nursey-esque head of curls sticking out towards the front. 

Chowder shut his door behind him and shuffled over to the bed, shedding his jacket and bag by the desk. “Hey Der.” He said gently, tilting his head to try and find a face to look at. “Is that really you under there or did Ikea come out with a new line of attractive poets?” He joked, managing a chuckle but all that achieved him was a shuffling of the shark pile.

One rolled off the top and covered Derek's head.

Alright, so this was going to take some more investigating. Good thing the Chows were a patient people. There was a reason nothing seemed to phase Chowder and, no, it wasn't because he was a goalie and goalies were notoriously strange.

Settling by the side of the bed he stuffed his hand into the pile of sharks until he could find what he assumed was Derek's back. He walked his fingers down then under his shirt and when he felt skin he rubbed gently. The pile shifted to accommodate his motions so Chowder counted that as a win.

“Do you wanna come out and tell me what's wrong? Or I can come in there and we can pretend we’re in a cave. Or, oh! We can built a fort with them and the blankets and-” 

He was interrupted, though, from his stream of consciousness by the pile huffing. “Chris! Just… just stop, for a bit, 'kay? I just need… I need you to be quiet for awhile.” He sounded defeated by the end of the sentence so whatever offense Chowder had started to feel at being basically told to shut up, well it kind of went away.

“Okay, Der. I can do that.” then he fell quiet, laying his free arm on the mattress then resting his cheek on his elbow. He continued rubbing his back, tracing over his spine and then following the contours of Derek's ribs. As he explored, he felt Derek turn more towards him, just little bits at a time until the sharks fell away and Chowder felt his hand slide over Derek's belly. He looked up and met the other's eyes, not saying anything but allowing his brows to twist.

What do you need? He was asking. Tell me what happened.

Derek closed his eyes and turned to face him fully, reaching forward to draw him into a kiss. He held it, before bringing his hand over to hold Chowder’s cheek. Now, Nursey was a good kisser, Chowder could attest to that. But even he couldn't ignore the fact that Derek's hand and wrist were bandaged in tight, pale compression bandages.

“It's just a sprain!” Derek spoke up before the shock and worry on Chowder’s face could morph into anything more. 

Chowder couldn't help sitting up and taking his wrist in his hands. “Oh my god, Derek, what happened? Are you okay? I mean- of course you're not okay, you're in flippin’ bandages but like… what happened are you okay oh my god!”

Derek let Chowder ramble, knowing he needed to get it out before shaking his head. “It was stupid. I just fucked up. I was walking and talking to some girls in my poetry seminar and - I know, I know, I'm sorry, yes I was flirting but not like… intentionally?” He looked shamefaced when Chris started frowning. “Anyways, yeah, I was being an idiot and didn't look where I was going and I was suddenly not on the sidewalk and the curb was higher than I expected and like… I fell. I should have been paying attention, it was just a dumb mistake, but I fell forward and would have eaten pavement if I hadn't caught myself on my, ya know, wrist? But then I sprained my wrist, and… yeah… I'm sorry.”

Chowder huffed and shook his head. “Why are you apologizing to me for? You're the one who's hurt!” He set Nursey’s hand down and touched his cheek. 

“Because I'm an idiot and a clutz and I'm not allowed to play for a few weeks until it's healed?” He said then promptly buried his face into one of the sharks. “Ugh! I feel so stupid! And I messed up the team and I've been too chicken shit to tell Rans and Holster so I've just been hiding here in your room instead…”

Chowder couldn't help but smile at his boyfriend, nudging him so he could crawl up onto the bed with him. He kicked all the sharks off the bed then took the one from Derek's arms, replacing it with himself. He cradled Derek's head to his chest, rubbing his back and smoothing down his neck. “Well. First off. You're not an idiot. You're maybe a bit reckless sometimes but you aren't an idiot by any means.” Derek scoffed and Chowder laughed. “You aren't! You're incredibly smart and you're coordinated on the ice and maybe walking isn't your strong suit but not everyone can be perfect.”

Derek scoffed again but there was clearly a smile in it. 

“And B. Er… secondly. Whatever. The caps aren't going to be mad. Remember when Bitty burned his hand over Christmas and had to sit out a few games because of it too? They weren't mad at him. And we lost those games!” Chowder carded his fingers through Nursey’s hair then tilted his face up. “So give yourself a little slack. Accidents happen. Usually in front of pretty girls.” He chirped and Nursey groaned, burying his face in Chowder’s chest. “Maybe you won't be such a big flirt in the future.” He finished, kissing the top of Derek's head.

“But that's how I won you over. Who am I without my patented Nursey charm?”

Chowder smiled softer and shook his head. “That's not how you won me over.” He breathed then just closed his eyes and starting rubbing his back again. “Now, what do you need?”

Derek was quiet for awhile longer this time before murmuring against Chowder's collar “Maybe we can just lay here together? And you tell me about your day which has got to have been better than mine.”

Chris laughed and nodded, kissing his hair once more. “I can do that.”

**Author's Note:**

> So, in light of my own injury where I sprained my ankle this morning, I channeled some of my frustrations into this pile of mush. I've never written either of these characters before as any more than side chars so it was really fun exploring them and them as a unit.
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed!
> 
> Come chatter at me on Tumblr @ [ticktockclockwork](http://www.ticktockclockwork.tumblr.com)


End file.
